HTC and Apple released a joint statement tonight announcing an end to their global patent dispute. The settlement comes with a new, 10-year cross licensing deal that includes both current and future patents, though no terms were disclosed. HTC's Peter Chou and Apple's Tim Cook had this to say about the deal:

“HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation,” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC.

“We are glad to have reached a settlement with HTC,” said Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. “We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation.”

The licensing deal covers all of HTC's products, company spokesman Jeff Gordon told Android Central this evening, which includes Android as well as its current Windows Phone stable. Gordon also said that "we do not expect this license agreement to have an adverse material impact on the financials of the company."

With HTC turning out fantastic new phones like the HTC 8X, it'll be nice to see their time, energy, and money keep going in that direction, rather than getting wasted over who was the first to put round corners on rubber-banding slide unlocker.

Rene Ritchiecan most often be found on iMore but truth be told he loves all gadgets, including his Xbox and Lumia 1020. Don't tell Apple. Follow him on Twitter @reneritchie

"Laser focused" on innovation? Is that a product hint? Is lasers where apple is going for iPhone 6? It would make a more realistic star wars game. Or perhaps they're realizing WP could take over in corporate so they're taking up the gauntlet in the kids corner area....

I have no idea what this particular dispute is actually about, but all I know is that Apple is a plague. I hope that company goes back to a close bankruptcy where it belongs. They patent gestures that are decades old; they simply don't fit in, in the world of technology.

Are you really shooting for eunuch status? That is just pure supposiiton on your part. Quite frankly, this was probably settled because HTC is not in good shape financially and they were never Apple's primary target anyway. They pushed it to the brink and then both backed down because it was not worth HTC;s money and Apple's time and follow-up PR rehab requirements. About the only thing I could envision that would get Apple to back down if it was something they really wanted to push is if it could also involve HTC Windows Phone products since that could pull Microsoft's lawyers into the deal. There are reasons why Apple and Microsoft have settled their differences out of court since the big lawsuit more than a decade ago, and why the subsequent deals have generally been in Microsoft's favor.

Somewhere....lawyers are crawled up in the fetal position crying like babies....good for Apple and great for HTC. I love their products and maybe they can start getting back to the mindset that made them innovators instead of the mindset that has made them #4 in recent times.

Dude all because u got ur head up Nokia's butt don't mean everybody else does. This article is about HTC. People like different options. Myself I like screen size, removable battery and sd slot. So I like the ATIV S. The HTC , Nokia and Samsung all have killer W8 phones.